One of the best things about having a sibling is that you have a built-in playmate and best friend for life. These 25 sibling games will keep the entertainment factor high and the fun rolling no matter the ages you and your brothers and sisters are.
Brother and Sister Games for Younger Siblings
Even very young brothers and sisters can spend their time together playing around and enforcing sibling relationships and bonds. These fun games are simple in nature and fun for brothers and sisters of all ages.
The Floor Is Lava
Parents spend a lot of time trying to teach their children NOT to jump on the furniture, but that behavior is somewhat encouraged in this game. Scatter pillows and blankets all over the living room floor. Tell your little wild ones that the floor is lava. They can not touch the floor! They have to move from couches to chairs to pillows and blankets, doing their best to avoid the lava floor.
Freeze Dance
Kids love dancing, so let your little ones get silly to music. Instruct them to move about in any way they want, dancing together to their favorite songs. The catch here is, when the music stops, they have to stop. This is like Simon Says, but so much more fun.
Don't Drop the Balloon
Kids sure do love balloons, so give your children one and tell them to keep it in the air for as long as they can. They can bop it around with their hands, working together to keep it from touching the ground. If this is too easy for your little overachievers, give them the same game premise, but tell them they can not use their hands or forearms to move the balloon.
Scavenger Hunt
Even young children can run their own scavenger hunt with siblings. You might have to help them generate appropriate lists of items to seek so that they can be successful in their search, but after that, you can let them fly solo. Compile lists of things that they can find independently and safely around the house or the yard. Make sure they know what the words say before they head off to find items. In time, kids will be able to come up with their own objects to hunt for.
Ping Pong Bounce
If you have a ping pong ball lying around and have an empty milk carton somewhere, then your kids can challenge each other to a game of ping pong bounce. Have them take turns sitting a reasonable distance from the empty milk carton. Give them a hand full of tries to get the ball into one of the spots usually reserved for eggs. How many times did they get the ball into the egg crate? Kids can add layers to this challenge by moving further back or trying to beat a top score.
Top Trunk
What kid wouldn't want to be an elephant for a day? If you have tennis balls, pop bottles, and a pair of pantyhose somewhere in the home, then your kids can spend a rainy afternoon playing a game called Top Trunk.
Drop tennis balls down into the pantyhose where feet would typically go. Put the stockings on your kids' heads, with the leg part and tennis balls dangling below. Set up pop bottles and see who can knock the bottles down with their homemade elephant trunk.
Bottle Bowling
Empty pop bottles are great items to keep around because they can be used in many homemade games for siblings. If you have a handful of them, teach your kids to make a makeshift bowling alley. Use a hallway or another space with a long, narrow area to roll a ball. Roll a ball towards the bottles/pins and see who knocks the most down.
Sibling Games That Older Kids and Teens Will Want to Play
When siblings grow older, they gravitate towards school, sports, friends, and other personal interests. If you notice your kids moving apart, try to bring them back together with one of these fun games geared towards older siblings.
I Am
Your kids likely know many of the same people, so playing the question-based game "I Am" makes for a perfect sibling activity. Think of a person both you and your sibling know. Write the name down and set it aside. Impersonate the person you wrote down on the piece of paper. See if your sibling can guess who you are trying to be. Take turns impersonating people you know, laughing at the funny quirks and similarities you both recognize.
Would You Rather
A fun game of words to play with older siblings is called Would You Rather. One person asks their sibling, "Would you rather..." The sibling then takes a minute to consider their answer and then responds. Ideas for this game could be:
- Would you rather skydive or bungee jump?
- Would you rather own a llama or a pig?
- Would you rather live without chocolate or pizza?
- Would you rather meet Ariana Grande or The Weekend?
Friend, Soulmate, Enemy
This is a much nicer version of Kiss, Kill, Marry, so you won't feel like a terrible mother or father letting your kids play it. One kid gives their sibling three names. From the three names given, the sibling then has to decide which one gets named friend, which gets named soulmate, and which gets named enemy.
Portrait Painting
Put those artistic skills to the test. Challenge your children to draw portraits of each other. You can also put a fun spin on this and blindfold your kids, seeing if they can draw one another from memory.
Get Through the Ultimate Obstacle Course
Obstacle course challenges get everyone outside and moving. Use jump ropes, hula hoops, little bikes, and other objects commonly found around the house and yard to make a mega obstacle course in the yard. Older kids can use their creative minds to put one of these together all on their own. See who gets the fastest time and disqualify anyone who refuses to clean up the yard and put materials back in their places afterward.
21 Questions
One thing all kids seem to love to do is to ask questions. If kids are breathing, then they are likely asking questions. Take their love of asking questions to a whole other level, and have them ask questions of each other. Tell each kid to spend some allotted time brainstorming questions to ask their sibling. They will be surprised at how much they don't know about each other. Ask them to write their questions down. Siblings then take time to ask their questions to their kin. They share secrets and work towards creating that good old sibling bond with this game.
This or That
Playing This or That is another question game that will keep older kids entertained for hours on end. They can focus on different categories like food and drink, games and sports, style and fashion, and travel and adventure. One kid gives two options for their sibling to choose from within one category. Examples include:
- Coke or Pepsi
- Vanilla or chocolate
- Cats or dogs
- France or Spain
- Long hair or short hair
The person who is answering the question simply does that. This game can go on forever, and the longer it continues, the more your kids learn about their brothers and sisters.
Fun Sibling Games For Large Families
Having lots of brothers and sisters means having endless possibilities for games. These great activities will make sure your super-sized family that plays together and stays together.
Pass the Orange
All the siblings line up, and the first sibling tucks an orange underneath their chin. They have to pass the orange to their sibling, who must also tuck it underneath their chin without dropping it. This game can be pretty awkward to play with people your teens and older kids don't intimately know. Playing it with brothers and sisters lets everyone let loose and have fun, with no one feeling uncomfortable.
Steal the Stickers
This game is such fun when you have a large family to play it with. Pass an index card out to every kid playing. This is where they will keep their stickers. On the back of every player, put stickers with that sibling's name on them. If five kids are playing, there should be five stickers on the back of each kid. The goal of the game is to chase your siblings around, trying to snag their stickers. Once you grab ahold of your brother or sister's sticker, place it on your index card. See which kid manages to get a sticker off of every person's back.
Rock Star Dress Up
Kids enjoy playing dress-up long after they care to admit to it. Create themes with siblings and dress up to fit the theme. One fun theme is dressing like rock stars. Everyone gets an allotted amount of time to retreat into their own space and develop an epic rockstar outfit to impress their siblings with. Don't forget to pull the look together with rocker hair and makeup! Other themes that can be fun for kids to dress up to are:
- Business attire
- Superheros
- Dress as a different family member
Ghost in the Graveyard
A classic game for large groups of siblings to engage in! Ghost in the Graveyard is one of those activities to play with family long after the sun goes down. It has to be dark out, but other than that, all you need are your siblings and space to hide and run. For this game, one brother or sister is the ghost. They go and hide in the graveyard (set parameters and hide within those.) Everyone else sets out to find the ghost. When someone spots the ghost, they yell, "Ghost in the graveyard!" Everyone then takes off for a designated home base, hoping to reach it before the ghost tags them. This is the type of game that makes for serious family memories.
Who Is Most Likely
Big families will have so much fun playing a game called "Who Is Most Likely." Give each person playing a whiteboard and a dry erase marker. Designate a parent or one sibling to be the person who poses the questions to the rest of the group. Ask your sibling group funny and insightful questions, and see which family member they end up writing down as their answer. Some hilarious questions to start with are:
- Who is most likely to get married first?
- Who is most likely to get arrested?
- Who is most likely to become president?
- Who is most likely to move away first?
- Who is most likely to become famous?
First to Fill
Those hot summer days scream for water games. If you have a group of siblings, a couple of buckets, and some sponges, race outside for some friendly, wet competition. Divide your sibling group up so that everyone has a partner. In teams of two, dunk a sponge in a bucket of water and race to an empty bucket waiting at the other end of the yard. Squeeze the sponge out and repeat. The first person to fill their team's bucket to a drawn line wins! The losing team gets the buckets tossed onto them.
Family Feud
Family Feud is a popular television game, but you and your brothers and sisters can bring the concept directly to your living room. Divide your giant gang into two teams. Make sure teams are weighted evenly regarding age. One sibling from each team meets up to face off. A host (go ask your dad to play) gives both teams a category worded as follows:
- Name foods that start with P
- Name something that goes with a cheeseburger
- Name something that can break down
For more Family Feud ideas and breakdowns of points, check out the internet, as it is a great resource, and clearly, plenty of people have already tried this out with their families.
The Importance of Sibling Bonding
Siblings share a bond that is like no other. Their common DNA, familial experiences, and countless memories bind them together through good times and bad. Throughout life, make sure to stop and enjoy your siblings. Whether that be through activities and games, downtime chatting or other means, make sure never to take your first friend for granted.
